756 Birds. 



Further Remarks on the Power of the Moorhens, fyc. to keep the 

 body submerged. By the Rev. J. C. Atkinson, B.A., &c. 



In the last number (Zool. 667) I see some remarks on the power 

 possessed by moorhens and other birds (Id. 668), of placing and 

 keeping themselves in a state of " submergence ;" and my statement 

 in a former paper, that the foot of the moorhen is the instrument by 

 means of which this bird is enabled to remain in the state of sub- 

 mergence, is pronounced to be " not satisfactory," because, according 

 to W. H. S., " this (the submergence) often happens in deep water, 

 and where there are no weeds or flags whatever near the surface," 

 by laying hold of which with its feet, the bird could be enabled to 

 keep itself down in spite of the supporting power of the water. 



In the first part of the article by W. H. S., he says he has read in 

 the April number of ' The Zoologist' " some observations with refer- 

 ence to the power which the moorhen possesses of ' submergence,' 

 and of keeping its body, and all but its beak or head, concealed under 

 water, when alarmed, &c." (Zool. 667). If W. H. S. had read my 

 paper with attention, he would have seen, that instead of making the 

 moorhen's power of " submergence" to differ from its power of keep- 

 ing its body, and all but its beak or head, concealed under water, I 

 make it to consist in that very concealment. Moreover, I say nothing 

 about beak or head ; for I state that all is concealed {including the 

 head) except the beak only. My words are " The moorhen, when 

 disturbed by man or dog, sometimes takes wing, sometimes dives ; 

 but after diving, especially if pursued by a dog, it seldom comes to 

 the surface again, but remains submerged, with merely its beak thrust 

 out, for the purpose of respiration." And lower down, describing the 

 emergence of a moorhen from its concealment under water, I proceed 

 to say, " The bill was first thrust higher out of the water, then fol- 

 lowed the head as far as the eyes" . . . What I meant then by the 

 phrase " state of submergence," must, I think, be perfectly apparent 

 to any one.* Moreover, if W. H. S. had looked two pages forward, 

 he would have found that when describing the habits of the dabchick, 

 I write as follows : " When very quietly and slowly approached, they 

 (the dabchicks) displayed the first symptom of uneasiness, by gra- 

 dually sinking themselves, until only the head and rump were above 

 the surface ;" and in the next sentence I call this a " partially sub- 

 merged state." 



* I use it in the same sense throughout these notes. 





